OK, how about this...you start with the decade you were born and each decade thereafter. You give the one band that you listened to the absolute most in that decade. The band doesn't have to have been from that decade if that's not the case. It doesn't matter if you think they were the best band of that decade or whatever, just who did you listen to most. Explain as little or as much as you'd like. I'll go first.

60s - Elvis Preseley
I was a baby and barely remember this decade. But, this is the stuff I heard in the crib. My dad liked rock 'n' roll and my mom liked crooners. Elvis is the guy they could both always agree on. He formed the musicalk backbone of my life and will always be the King to me.

70s - Kiss
In the very trail end of the 70s I was reaching my teenage years and starting to listen to Punk, but before that I was picking up bits and pieces of Black Sabbath, Rolling Stones, and whatever else came my way. But, Kiss was a constant. I liked the big, simple guitars. As a too young to know better kid, I was transfixed by the bigger than life characters. I played the first few Kiss albums innumerable times and they still sound just fine by me.

80s - The Clash
By this time punk had permeated everything for me. I listened to a ton of hardcore like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, FEAR, Dead Kennedys and all that. The Minutemen were huge and come in a very close second. I was interested in LL Cool J, Run DMC and the birth of hip hop. Prince was a giant. But earliest was London Calling, and then going back to hear the first two. Before I really fully realized punk was born in America and that the hardcore scene was bringing it all across the country, even to small towns like I was living in at the time, I was hearing it come from England through mail order and a few English kids I ran into. And while I was quickly won over by bands I could see and touch, I never lost fondnmess for my first love and played the shit out of damn near everything the Clash released before and through the 80s. OK, except Cut the Crap...let's just pretend that never happened.

90s - Massive Attack
When the 90s rolled around I really got pretty removed from music for big chunks outside what was on the radio. Frankly, for most of the decade I was spending more time hustling drugs in biker bars and strip clubs than seeking out interesting music. I heard a shit ton of Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and the usual suspects. I hear way more than enough of The Chronic and that west coast rap sound. But one of a handful of bands that filtered through and stuck with me was Massive Attack. Late nights and driving home in the mid-morning with this playing was a regular feature of the decade and once I got more into looking into music again, they were the starting point for me to explore a whole ton of electronic music that I'd only briefly taken note of before.

00s - White Stripes
The 2000s were a time when I was hearing tons of new music, mostly because of the internet, but also just because music seemed to have splintered everywhere by this time and new sounds and styles seemingly cropped up daily. However, if any one band galvanized everything for me and appealed to my love of basic rock 'n' roll it was the White Stripes. I could dabble in obscure genres all day happily, but when I heard De Stijl on the turntable, Fell in Love with a Girl on the radio or Seven Nation Army blasting, nothing sounded better. For me, they were a perfect mix of bold yet approachable, tradiotinal but with a twist and rockin' as hell and poppy as hell all at once.

OK...tons of stuff left out and tons of musical styles (soul, jazz, regggae, noise, etc...) that I didn't even mention that I love and listen to all the time. But taking it one bigger than big band at a time in my life, I guess in the end it looks like this... Elvis - Kiss - The Clash - Massive Attack - White Stripes

i don't feel like i've been alive long enough to do this, but here's probably what i've listened to most in those decades:

80s - springsteen
90s - phish
00s - grateful dead
10s - grateful dead

80s - I honestly don't know. I've got a poor memory at best, especially from when I was a kid. Probably some children's record like Ants'hillvania. A Christian story/song set of records that I pretty darn near wore out.

90s - Nothing really interesting here. Probably what I listened to the most was the Newsboys Take Me To Your Leader album. A lot of contemporary Christian radio stuff. That didn't really start changing until right before I started high school in 1998.

00s - The beginning part of the decade was dominantly Christian metal/core ala Zao, but it didn't take too long (the year after hs graduation, if I remember right) for me to discover The Residents and I spent most of the decade obsessing over them. (Honorable mention to Sufjan Stevens).

10s - Sonic Youth dethroned The Residents as my bonafide favorite several years prior to the end of the 00s, however, this decade so far has been full-on Thurston Moore love. Perfect mixture of rock, catchy-pop songwriting, and experimentalism.

My tastes changed so quickly, it's hard to assess just what was the SINGULAR band of each decade for me. So I'll just kinda sum up as best I can.

70's -- Barry Manilow
What can I say? I was a kid riding in the back of the car, while my parents subjected me to their 8-track DJing.

80's -- Eric Clapton
My big-time metal phase in the early part of the 80's melted into a classic rock fixation by mid-decade, which lasted pretty much until I disovered the rock underground.

90's -- Uncle Tupelo/Wilco/Son Volt
Discovered them as the decade dawned and, along with Meat Puppets and The Replacements, they probably had the biggest effect on the way I listened to music. But, being as the UT gang evolved and kept putting out great music throughout the decade - music that I could keep following - these are the folks that probably best define the decade for me, as a whole. (Even if the guys I mentioned at first better represent the beginning, and Elephant 6 bands better represent the end of the decade.)

00's -- Nick Lowe and friends
All of Nick's incarnations. Something he is on is usually one of the first things that I am inclined to grab, while grabbing CDs for the day. I usually have to stop myself from doing so, so as not to burn myself out on him.

10's -- Harry Nilsson
Pretty much the same thing that I said about Nick Lowe. I just cannot stop myself from listening to Harry. The man could sing the phone book and I would be rapt. An unbelievable talent that I cannot believe that it took me as long to discover as it did.

Sorry but the "one band per decade" stipulation is nearly impossible for me. I'll try to narrow it down as much as possible.

70s: N/A. I was born in late '79.

80s: Michael Jackson (or Paul Simon or maybe even The Beach Boys, but I'll go with MJ). It's tough to say which I listened to more since I was a little kid in the '80s. It was basically all Top 40 and whatever my parents played at home (Paul Simon). I remember they bought me a bunch of Beach Boys tapes that I would carry around with me in this little tape player, but that might have just been for a really short period. Anyway, like every kid at the time I thought Michael Jackson was the coolest person in the world. Bad was like the biggest thing to happen. I remember being terrified by the "Thriller" video when I was like 4, and I remember being wowed by that 3D movie in Epcot Center when I was 8. Favorite MJ songs as a kid were probably "Billy Jean" and "Man in the Mirror" (for some odd reason).

90s: Pearl Jam. I was sort of a fairweather Nirvana fan - loved them at first but kept my distance when it wasn't cool to, which was pretty often in a conservative southern town. I didn't like Pearl Jam at all at first. I actually liked Stone Temple Pilots before I really got into PJ. I was on some school field trip when I listened to a friend's copy of Vs. on my Discman. Is there any more quintessential self-absorbed, angsty, self-righteous teenager music than '90s Pearl Jam? I connected with each subsequent album more deeply. I still have a soft spot for No Code. I probably lectured my prom date on how great I thought Yield was while it was playing in my car on the way to the hibachi restaurant. I remained an STP fan up until college, solidified my Nirvana fandom a little while after Cobain killed himself, listened to a ton of Beck and The Beastie Boys, and started getting really into Radiohead towards the end of the decade. But the 90s, my teens, were pretty much about Pearl Jam more than any other band.

00s: Deerhoof. OK it's really impossible to pick the one band that I listened to the most over the past decade or that had the biggest influence on what I listened to. I just think that Deerhoof was the best. And yeah, they probably did a lot to shape what I looked for in new music. They became sort of a standard of what I looked for in a band. Creative instrumentation and song structures, energetic, loud, noisy, solid melodies and hooks even if they were pretty warped or obscured, competent singing optional. If we're not necessarily naming bands of this particular period but bands that we listened to and that shaped our listening, maybe I would say Can. I think discovering/appreciating Can led to me getting into late-'90s Boredoms (a few years after the fact) which then - I think - helped me get into Deerhoof. And then my whole noise rock/post-punk obsession sort of blossomed from there. I feel like my love of bands like This Heat, U.S. Maple, Sightings, Jesus Lizard, and even Captain Beefheart is sort of tied to this. I may have even gotten into Deerhoof before Beefheart, I'm not really sure. It would kinda make sense, though, that I would get into an album like Reveille before being able to really get into Trout Mask Replica. I mean... Deerhoof is a still a weird band to pick. Not exactly what I'd call the soundtrack to my life in those years, but it's hard to say what was. I mean, sure, I could listen to them just about all the time, and there are times when their sort of bristling, ecstatic sound at its best seems like a fitting expression for something like the birth of my child. Maybe.

10s: Women.

60s - I was alive 16 days in this decade, so I don't remember. I'm guessing I probably heard my mom's voice singing to me more than anything.

70s - Jan & Dean: This is the decade when I became a music geek. I credit The Beatles for really getting me hooked, but for some reason (likely having to do with the crappy TV movie about them) I latched onto the Jan & Dean records my dad had and even became a bit obsessive about them. I still have all of those records (and a few more I've picked up along the way) and the little magazines they issued as part of the fan club. Others I listened to a lot include: Buddy Holly, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Kiss, Kinks.

80s - The Replacements: This is a tough one. I really got into punk and "alternative" music during the middle of the decade and listened to a lot of music. However, I listened to the 'Mats a lot in the 80s, both the early punk records and the classic trio of albums that defined their place in rock history. Other artists that got a lot of play: Dead Kennedys, The Smiths, Hoodoo Gurus, The Connells, Devo, Ramones.

90s - Fugazi: This was a strange decade for me. I graduated from college, got married (the first time), went through law school, moved out of state for the first time, started my first real job, and had a kid. Much of this decade I was out of the loop on new music, but thanks to a buddy and the CMJ rag, I kept up on some of it. I started listening to Fugazi with the first EP in the late 80s and just bought every new release they offered, so they got the most listens from me. Plus I saw them a couple times in the 90s which cemented them as a "sure buy" for me. Also rans: Dino Jr., Urge Overkill, Beastie Boys.

00s - Johnny Cash: I bought and listened to so much music during this decade most of it is just a blur. But I went through a big country phase, led by Patsy Cline and the man in black. Other top listens include: Mclusky, The Shins, Dismemberment Plan, Neko Case.

Honestly if I had to pick, I like Jan & Dean better than the Beach Boys.

70s - The Beach Boys
I could very well put Black Sabbath, but honestly, I listened to the Beach Boys the most thanks to my parents. Still absolutely adore them, especially the Friends and Sunflower albums.

80s - Slayer
I progressed into Metal at an early age, and the one band that literally blew me away and made me forget about any hair band I thought was cool was Slayer. I bought the Haunting the Chapel record by seeing the cover art, and then sat in my room listening to it fucking floored. I remember trying to turn my friends on to them, but they weren't having it. We would hit the park with the boom box blasting Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, etc., and I would try and play Haunting the Chapel or Show No Mercy for them. They were pussies.

90s - The Stone Roses
My girlfriend at the time turned me on to their debut album. Heard the drums, and that was it! I was into some electronic stuff at the time, so it fit in with that, but had guitars and fucking great atmosphere. Still to do this, my favorite album of all time. Hands down.

00s - Boards of Canada
Of all the artists releases in the 00's, Boards of Canada inspired me the most, helping me branch out my music tastes even further. Music Has the Right to Children is an absolute masterpiece of electronic music.

Damn yeah, Boards of Canada would have to duke it out with White Stripes for me too now that I think of it. I've played Music has the Right innumerable times.

'60s: CCR
'70s: Stones
'80s: Van Halen
'90s: Pearl Jam
'00s: Spoon
'10s: Deer Tick

i really have no fucking clue. no one artist ever dominated a decade for me. 70s and 80s i was listening to top 40 radio, basically. classic rock, whatever. early 90s still high school. started branching out into college rock in the mid to late 90s and then started devouring everything starting in the 00s and 10's. A lifetime play count would probably say The Replacements or Bob Dylan win.

I was all over the place

80s: top 40 and oldies my parents listened to, plus Run DMC, Fat Boys, Beastie Boys, R.E.M
90s: Pink Floyd, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Dead Milkmen, Mudhoney, Fugazi, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Sex Pistols, Bad Religion, Social Distortion, Slayer, Danzig, Metallica, Pantera and a lot of classic rock discovery: Led Zepplin, Doors, Halen, Hendrix, Rush, et al
1998 - 2000: Pink Floyd, Phish, Medeski Martin & Wood, Frank Zappa, Radiohead, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, Tortoise, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Drive-By Truckers. Critters Buggin, Lake Trout
00s: this was my musical education/discovery phase. I could never list all of the bands I listened to the most here. Neil Young and Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized standd out as does Drive By Truckers (except 2002 - 2004 when I getting really heavy into hipster rock) and Silver Jews, Grandaddy, Radiohead, Lake Trout, White Stripes, Neko Case, Cat Power, Spoon, Animal Collective and TV on the Radio.
10s: Wilco, Neil Young, My Morning Jacket, Animal Collective, Drive-By Truckers, Bobby Bare Jr, TV on the Radio, The War on Drugs, Silver Jews

60's: Very fuzzy. Probably Johnny Cash/Merle Haggard. Those are my earliest memories.
70's: Kiss, without a doubt.
80's: I was all over the place here, teen years had me going in several directions. If I had to choose one, it'd probably be Led Zeppelin.
90's: Have to be Pavement, though the Pearl Jam/Soundgarden/Nirvana triumvirate got mass play, too.
00's: Ehhhhhhhh, Spoon
10's: Waiting for something good to come along.

It’s a fun exercise… forcing a choice of one band… My standards of judgment, a band that had personal emotional significance, whose music changed me AND epitomized the time period. The other filter would be that I listened to it at the time, not some later revisionist experience.

50’s (I was alive and sentient): I remember hearing my older brother listening to a recording of a poet reading over a very cool, beatnik quartet. I think it was Kenneth Patchen reading over the Jazz Chamber ensemble. I meant there was an alternate way to think, live, perceive.. and it was available on vinyl.
60’s – The Supremes. (I was gonna say the Kinks… I loved their power and sensitivity). The Motown energy, vibe, beat, and blackness were irresistible to a young adolescent.
70’s – Neil Young
80’s – Replacements
90’s – Yo La Tengo
00’s- Wilco
10’s – Dylan… fuck ya.

80s-Beatles
90s-Smashing Pumpkins
00s-Guided By Voices
10s-?

70s - KISS.

They were comic book characters with some obviously catchy hooks and I was a kid who liked comics and easy entertainment. They even provided temporary tatoos with Alive II! Runners up: Beatles, Stones, Cheap Trick.

80s - Forgotten Rebels

Not too far off the character train either with lots of sick humour in their great songs. This is a tough one, because this is where I was all over the place with massive love for many artists. I'm trying to be statistical about it though and figure I listened to the Rebels from '85 onwards, Beasties Boys from '86 onwards, GnR, '88 onwards etc.

90s - Tragically Hip

Probably heard them for the first time in the late '80s but they easily became the band of the decade once Road Apples was released. I doubt any other band comes close.

00s - Drive-By Truckers

I was just scanning iTunes and figuring it's probably DBTs. Maybe MMJ? Ryan Adams? Spoon? Jack/White, actually might be a contender as well. I have no idea and don't really feel like I have a real standout like the previous decades.

70s - Whatever my parents liked. Lots of Beatles and Bee Gees.
80s - I liked certain movie soundtracks a lot, but I was mostly an action figure or video game dork during this time. I guess the artist I was exposed to most was Michael Jackson.
90s - The 77s
00s - XTC (especially towards the latter part of the decade), but a strong case could be made for Ween as well.
10s - Still XTC so far, although I have been listening to a lot of Squeeze/Glenn Tilbrook.

80s - Ghostbusters Soundtrack (does this count?)
90s - Nirvana
00s - Modest Mouse
10s - Black Lips?

80's- Whatever weird shit my dad was listening to at the time. I was born in '87 so who knows.
90's- The Beatles. They were by far my favorite band as a kid. I played the fuck out of my Magical Mystery Tour tape. I loved classic rock, Herman's Hermits, ELO, that stuff.
00's- Nirvana in the summer of 2000 my family moved from Chapel Hill NC, out to the country redneck part of NC about 15 mins outside of Asheville NC. I went from listening to the Beatles and such to Nirvana right around this point. The great thing about Nirvana is that Kurt was forever name dropping his influences, so backtracking through what he listened to was what I did until about 2006 when I started college and discovered that I don't hate rap.
'10s- ummmm I don't know. According to Last.FM it's Gucci Mane, but that doesn't seem right. Whatever, who the hell knows. Maybe the Clash, maybe the Libertines.

Call me a Communist, but I'm going with a Five Year Plan:

'91-'95: Pearl Jam
'96-'00: Fugazi/Eminem
'01-'05: Pedro the Lion/Saturday Looks Good to Me
'06-'10: Sleater-Kinney
'11-'15: [???]

80s - Bryan Adams/Wilson Philips/Aerosmith
Idk dudes.

90s - 2pac/Bone Thugs

00s - Strokes/Kanye West

Other than that it was whatever the brothers or sisters had lying around. I would continue to listen to Buffett, Van, and Fleetwood the following decade.

This is a Tough decade because I went from end of grade school, through High School and most of University, music is a big thang at those ages.

From these albums I started to branch out heavily and away from the radio unless it was early RnR.

So many other albums in between, but i 'd have to say I listened to these most. I think the difficulty pinning any one album down is the fact that I was listening to so many more artists than ever before.

10's - Not much different than the oo's but my time is less so no dominance of artists yet. I am still playing catch up on last year's.

80's: Michael Jackson / Prince / Run-DMC / Weird Al Yankovic
90's: Led Zeppelin / Pearl Jam / Nirvana / Digital Underground / Beastie Boys / A Tribe Called Quest
00's: The Clash / Queens of the Stone Age / The White Stripes / Spoon / Pedro the Lion / Ted Leo & the Pharmacists / The Black Keys
10's: LCD Soundsystem / Fucked Up

fixed

80s : Michael Jackson -- Like so many other kids of this decade, how could I not say MJ for the 80s?
90s pt. 1: Pearl Jam
90s pt. 2: Sonic Youth
00s: Animal Collective/Wilco/DBT (tail-end)
10s: DBT (probably the band I've traveled the most to see, and have fawned over so far in the '10s)